I represent the first generation who, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"

Indiana TalksMarion, INWednesday 1/111pm ET,8pmPTwith replays at various times throughout the weekClick on the player at IndianaTalks.comor use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

We’llusher in 2014 by presenting Part 2 of our conversation aboutThe Wild, Wild West,one of the most unusual Western series ever made on television, and an unique blend of action, adventure, humor and memorable characters (such as Dr. Miguelito Loveless) that is as much fun to watch today as it was when it originally ran on CBS back in the mid 1960s.

Our guests this week will include Sue Kesler and Jude Bradley. Sue is the author, and Jude the editor, of The Wild, Wild West: The Series, everything you wanted to know about the classic TV series starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, from the early struggles between CBS and series creator Michael Garrison, to the intricate disguises and splendidly choreographed action sequences that gave the show its mark. A devout enthusiast of 1960s television, Sue has also worked in television as a film editor for more than 30 years, including such top shows as The X Files, The Gilmore Girls, American Dreams, Crossing Jordan, Heroes and Falling Skies, whileJude has extensive experience as a writer, editor and producer for such publications as LA Weekly, as well as companies like Time/Life and HBO, plus she was recently seen on Extreme Cougar Wives on TLC.Also returning to the program this week will be Bob Herron, one of the regular stuntmen on The Wild, Wild West, as well as Ross Martin’s double for almost the entire run of the show. Bob’s career as a stuntman and actor spans more than six decades, and hundreds of films and TV shows, including Star Trek, The Rockford Files, The Wild Bunch, Paint Your Wagon, Rio Bravo, Hawaiian Eye, Oklahoma Crude and Gunsmoke. Sue, Jude and Bob will join us for a special 90-minute conversation that begins in our first hour.

Monday, December 30, 2013

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

December 30, 1959

Comedian Tracey Ullman is born in
Hackbridge, England.

She attended theater school from ages 12 to 16. At age 21,
she began performing with an avant-garde drama group, the Royal Court Theater,
where she won rave reviews. She
landed her own U.S. TV show in 1987. The Emmy-winning Tracey Ullman Show
ran from 1987 to 1990. The show featured short skits starring Ullman and a
regular cast of players, and also aired short animated segments-one was an
offbeat cartoon about underachieving 10-year-old named Bart Simpson and his
oddball family. The cartoon was later spun off into its own hit show, The
Simpsons.

December
30th, 1963

Lets Make a Deal debuted on NBC.

Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States
and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is
based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders
usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer for valuable prizes, or
undesirable items, referred to as "Zonks". Let's Make a Deal
is also known for the various unusual and crazy costumes worn by audience
members, who dressed up that way in order to increase their chances of being
selected as a trader.[2] The show was hosted for many years by Monty Hall, who co-created and co-produced the
show with Stefan Hatos. The current version is hosted by Wayne Brady, with Jonathan Mangum (announcer), Danielle Demski (model), and Cat Gray (live
musician) assisting.

January 3, 1949

Colgate sponsors the early anthology series, Colgate
Theater. Like most dramatic
programming at the time, the show consisted of weekly plays and/or scripts
adapted for television. Among many other stories, the show produced two of the
earliest TV adaptations of radio programs: Vic and Sade and Mr. and
Mrs. North.

January 4, 1984

The first episode of Night Court aired on NBC. The
setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young,
unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone (played by Harry Anderson). It was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on Barney Miller in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Anderson had developed a following with his
performances on Saturday Night Live
and made several successful appearances as con man "Harry the Hat" on
another NBC sitcom, Cheers. (For the first
several years of its run, Night Court aired on NBC Thursday nights after
Cheers.) In later seasons, while Anderson remained the key figure, John Larroquette became the breakout personality,
winning a number of awards and many fans for his performance as the lecherous
Dan Fielding.

The comedy style on Night Court changed as the
series progressed. During its initial seasons, the show was often compared to Barney Miller. In addition to being created
by a writer of that show, Night Court (like Barney Miller) was
set in New York City, featured quirky, often dry humor, and dealt with a staff
who tried to cope with a parade of eccentric, often neurotic criminals and
complainants. Furthering this comparison, these characters were routinely
played by character actors who had made frequent guest appearances on Barney
Miller, including Stanley Brock, Philip Sterling, Peggy Pope, and Alex Henteloff. But while the characters
appearing in the courtroom (and the nature of their transgressions) were often
whimsical, bizarre or humorously inept, the show initially took place in the
'real world'. In an early review of the show, Time magazine called Night
Court, with its emphasis on non-glamorous, non-violent petty crime, the
most realistic law show on the air.

Gradually, however, Night Court abandoned its
initial "real world" setting, and changed to what could best be
described as broad, almost slapstick comedy. Logic and
realism were frequently sidelined for more surreal humor, such as having the
cartoon character, Wile E. Coyote, as a
defendant and convicting him for harassment of the Road Runner with an
admonition to find a meal by some other means.

CHILD OF TELEVISION @ iTunes

Pre-ramble

I represent the first generation whom, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"